


Offbeat

by winterhats



Category: Kagerou Project, Mekakucity Actors
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Rating for Language, based on other media, post-STR
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-28 01:44:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20417831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterhats/pseuds/winterhats
Summary: Shintaro is done with the world. Haruka is trying to impress Takane. Takane only wants to have fun.(Based on a SU episode).





	Offbeat

**Author's Note:**

> This is something I wrote in early 2017. I wrote it for fun and only for myself, but going through my files I found it and gave it a re read, and it made me laugh, so I decided to simply post it for fun! This is the closest I'm gonna get to writing a Crack Fic.
> 
> It's canon divergent as usual; post-STR where Ayano doesn't survive.
> 
> It's quite literally a rip off of the Steven Universe episode "Last One Out of Beach City", however roles are changed around, so it's not exactly the same.

It starts when Takane lets out that stupid dramatic sigh; once he heard it, Shintaro instantly gets the feeling his night wasn't gonna go as planned.

Haruka and Takane work a lot, but as both were home today, Shintaro guesses they had the night off. Not like Shintaro really cared, because he hadn't asked. That's simply what he assumes since Haruka is curled up on the armchair doing a crossword, and Takane– Takane had just ploped down next to Shintaro.

Both very comfortable, with zero indicators they had to work in this Friday night.

Right now, Shintaro is on the couch, laptop in lap, minding his own business. Or at least he was. He keeps telling himself he does not care, but as he takes one earbud out of his ear, he realizes Takane seemed very... down. He does not care, he repeats in his mind, as he asks, "Something the matter?"

Ah, there it is again. His own mind tricking him into being a caring person.

It wasn't like Shintaro actively thought of himself as a bad friend. In fact, he'd say he's gotten pretty good at this whole friendship thing.

But ever since he started freeloading at Haruka and Takane's, it almost felt as a requirement to be as good as he can be. After all, they _are_ letting their deppressed and unemployed friend stay with them like it's nothing.

Shintaro barely spends time with them at all, so it was already a rare that he hadn't moved from the living room when Haruka had made himself comfortable there, and now he's even asking Takane what's wrong.

Only groaning further into the cushions, Takane straightens up, turning to sit criss crossed, "Kano blew me off."

Shintaro feels surprised for a second, before remembering Takane and Kano had found some sort of strange friendship with one another. They've always gotten along, even during the time Takane wasn't Takane, due their common interest in tormenting people.

Most of the members of the Dan are busy working and stuff like that, but sometimes, Shintaro thinks he only tells himself this to cope with the fact he never gets out of his way to see them anymore. Especially since he's started to crash in this apartment; Haruka and Takane seemed to keep in contact with everyone, and always made plans.

Before he could get too angsty about it, Haruka thankfully chimes in, "That house party thing?"

"Technically a concert, but yeah," Takane sighs again. "Apparently he got caught up with work or something... I don't know. How dare he have a life."

"Oh," tapping his pencil against the paper, Haruka frowns. "That really is a shame. You were looking forward to it."

"Yeaaah. But it's kind of a bummer to go by myself, y'know."

Starting to type on his laptop again, Shintaro sort of disconnects from the conversation. Again, he didn't really... care. That sounded really blunt and maybe sort of crappy, but he really didn't.

He wanted to spend his Friday night by himself, reviewing anime and drinking soda like every Friday night. And like every Friday. And every night. And every day.

Coughing awkwardly about his own thoughts, Shintaro wonders why he still feels like it won't be like that this time. He sighs, just as he hears Haruka say, "W – well, you could hang out with me tonight!"

"Yeah, seems like that's the deal," Takane nods, but she didn't seem that eager about it. "I just... really wanted to go to the concert. I mean let's be real, this room seems like a retirement home right now."

"How come! We're all joyful, young people."

Shintaro snorts, "Senpai. C'mon. You're doing a _crossword."_

"Yeah, no offense, but you just sounded like a total grandpa too," Takane winces with a smile, sorry to make fun of Haruka, but being unable to help it. _"Joyful, young people..."_

Shintaro nods to her words, smirking a little at her imitation of an old person's voice, "Your glasses aren't doing you any favours, either."

This time, Haruka blushes, an awkward expression tracing his featues as he nervously slides his glasses up to rest on his head, "They're just reading glasses, there's nothing weird about it!"

"Yeah, except you chose the literal most grandpa-y glasses there could be," Shintaro says, and joins Takane when she cackles. Haruka only blushes harder,

"Well!" he starts, unsure about what he was going to say, and clearly having spoken up only because he wanted them to stop teasing. "When I said I could hang out with you, I meant_ I_ could... go to the concert with you."

There's a small silence from Takane's part, and Shintaro thought it was because she was shocked, but when he looks at her, he realizes she was only staring back at Haruka with a somewhat pitiful expression.

On his part, Shintaro thought that was cool. If they both went away, that meant he'd be home alone. That'd be dope.

But in the end, Takane just giggles again, "You wanna come to this concert with me? ...You?"

"I – I mean, it's like a house party, isn't it? You don't need a ticket or anything, so..."

"That's not the problem, Haruka," Takane cuts him off. "You're real sweet, but it's not necessary. I know you don't do well in situations like that, so you don't need to force yourself."

"What do you mean with that...?" Haruka pouts. "Situations like what? I'm perfectly fine with any situations."

"...In a random house full of people pushing each other with music blasting at full volume?" she winces again, still smiling fondly to him. "Doesn't sound like a very Haruka thing, does it, Shintaro?"

Shintaro winces too, immediately concluding, "You'd have a panic attack, Haruka."

"That's not true! I've never been to such a thing, how would you know?"

"God, Haruka, we don't need to see you do it to know you wouldn't do well in it," Takane crawls over the armrest towards the armchair, joining Haruka's spot. He welcomes her, even though he still wore a sad face. She pats his shoulder softly, wrapping an arm around him, "We can just watch a movie or something. Even pretend Shintaro doesn't exist and be full on PDA."

"I'm gonna be in the kitchen if that happens, thank you," Shintaro hurries to say. Haruka still pouted,

"W – _well,_ but I've never actually _been _to a music show! Wouldn't it be exciting to go? I'd like to join you, Takane!" he insists. "We watch movies together basically everday. It's just a change of pace."

"I don't know, Haruka," Takane insists back. "I really don't think you're gonna like it. I think you're gonna be uncomfortable."

"No way! I'll be chill! I'll be super chill."

Takane only hums in disbelief, probably trying to look for another nice way of turning him down. Haruka was busting out the puppy eyes as well, which usually worked in his favour, but right now were probably just convincing Takane further that Haruka isn't the kind of person for these events. It makes Shintaro snicker.

And that snicker is the worst mistake he could've ever made.

Because Haruka immediately glances to him, almost as if he suddenly had a light bulb shining on top of his head. Takane starts by shaking her head, opening her mouth to say no again when Haruka blurts out,

"Shintaro-kun said he wanted to come too."

"He did?"

"I did!?"

Honestly, what in the hell. What. _What._

Shintaro had absolutely no idea what was going through Haruka's mind. He doesn't know how _that_ could help him make Takane agree, since he's basically the personification of what you call "socially awkward." Much like Haruka, Shintaro wouldn't be all that comfortable in a concert.

He's only ever gone to a few of his sister's, but idol concerts are a little crazier compared to what they were talking about. Because a house party slash concert? Ah, god. That almost sounds like it's going to have a big person at the door checking if you're cool enough to enter.

And Shintaro's sure that out of the three of them, only Takane would make it in. After all, as much as he hates to admit it, that girl _is_ pretty... cool, maybe. Objectively speaking, at least in the standard definition.

Always going to concerts and gaming events, dressing the way she does, listening to the music she listens to...

Yup, Shintaro can see it.

But when he looks at Haruka, he understands everything; he didn't think before speaking.

His friend looked at him with apologetic eyes, obviously only having said such a thing because he was desperate to get Takane to agree. God, he can be so stupid. Takane only raised an eyebrow at Shintaro, going, "Really? Somebody as dull as Shintaro?"

Shintaro opens his mouth to defend himself, tell her to go to hell, but...

But then he looks past Takane, where Haruka sits now using those puppy eyes on him, his hands locked as if begging him to please play along.

_I'm sorry, senpai,_ Shintaro thinks. _You're great, and I'd love to be a good friend but this is just a big no-no._

"Yeah, someone as dull as me."

_What the fuck is wrong with me._

"Oh! Uh," Takane, visibly surprised, looks back and forth in between her boyfriend and their personal freeloader, settling for a shrug. "Well. I guess I'm no one to tell you guys what to do..."

"Wow, hey, why'd you only agree when I said I'd go too!?"

"I don't know? Two against one?" Takane says, finally standing up. "And maybe it'd be fun to see you get loose! You've been locked in ever since you started crashing here. Some fresh air will do you some good."

There she goes again, trying to get him to be okay.

So that's why Haruka used him as an excuse; he knew Takane would instantly grab on the chance to try to get him to loosen up a bit.

Shintaro has realized Haruka and Takane do the same as his mom and his sister. They want him to be okay, to solve his "issues." It's just that they were a lot more discreet about it.

They don't pressure him to get a job like his mom does and they don't force him to talk about his feelings like Momo does. What Haruka and Takane always do is to _wait until he's comfortable to talk._

Which is a good different, but alas, Shintaro keeps telling himself and everyone, there was nothing to be fixed. He was beyond that. He was beyond someone fixable.

He looks at Haruka, still begging him with his eyes, and decides it's okay. This isn't supposed to be a therapy session to him or anything; he's just helping a friend out.

_It's just a favour for him. Whatever._

So Shintaro nods. Haruka and Takane beam.

* * *

"You owe me big time."

Shintaro tried to keep it together by thinking that eventually they'd go home.

Haruka, meanwhile, nodded desperately, "I know! But she would have never agreed if you didn't tag along."

He'd ask him why that is if he didn't already know. Knowing Haruka, he probably just wants to impress Takane. And... well, she _did_ call him a grandpa tonight, so Shintaro can see why he's desperate to change her mind.

Honestly, he can't be mad at Haruka for wanting to look nice in the eyes of his girlfriend. He knows Haruka's always been worried about Takane being out of his league and stuff like that, after all. Maybe this will help him become a little more confident.

All Shintaro has to do is make it through the night, and hey, he actually likes the band they'll be seeing, so that didn't suck.

They both steal a glance of Takane opening one of the fridges; they were currently at a convenience store and obviously, grabbing snacks was Haruka's idea.

And looking at her, Shintaro can absolutely see why Haruka feels the way he does. It was weird, because Takane always dresses like this, but she somehow looks different today. As if she had put actual effort in her appearance or something.

Which Shintaro highly doubts, because she was ready to go in approximately two minutes. She wasn't wearing makeup or anything, her hair was messily let down too, and in fact, he's seen her wear those jean shorts like a million times. She looked the same as ever.

To be bluntly honest, what made Shintaro feel strange was that he could see her bra. The armhole of her tank top was low like that, and she wasn't wearing a different shirt underneath. It's summer and he gets it, but he's dumb and he can't stop staring at it.

_Just think about something else._

"I can see her bra."

_Jesus fuck._

God, why does he have so little tact? If he simply screamed out "hey everyone, I'm a virgin!", it'd have the same impact.

"You've pointed that out already, Shintaro-kun," Haruka lets out an awkward giggle, but quickly drowns it in a dreamy sigh as he also stared at her. "Ahh, look at her... she looks so cool with so little effort... I'm no match for someone like her..."

"God, shut up, senpai," Shintaro tries to comfort him. As you can see, he is very good at it. "Look, if you weren't her type she wouldn't even give you the time of day. There's nothing wrong with being... traditional and introverted, even if that's kinda grandpa-y."

"I am _nooot_ a grandpa! I'm in my twenties!"

"You were doing a crossword. Friday night."

"Crosswords are fun, you guys are just mean," he whines, very lamely. "I'll– I'll show her. I'll be cool. I won't even– I won't be a grandpa. Look. My shirt's not even buttoned all the way up, I can be hardcore!"

Shintaro immediately starts cackling, "Wow, wild. You absolute exhibitionist. I bet Takane will be throwing her bra at you any second now."

"D – don't be so obsene!"

"See? That's exactly what a grandpa would say."

Before Haruka can complain again, Takane was walking back up to them, managing to hold three cans of different drinks. They already grabbed snacks, Haruka's doing, and she decided to take care of beverages. Shintaro just stood there and did nothing, obviously.

Since they were actually going to the show she was apparently looking forward to, Takane is now in an extremely good mood. At least Shintaro thought so, because she smiled brightly at them as she said, "Okay~ Got the drinks. Soda to wreck Shintaro's liver even more, and apple juice for baby boy Haruka."

Shintaro can almost hear Haruka's embarrassment. Poor guy. But even so, he can't help a laugh, "So hardcore, senpai."

Bluntly ignoring him (he doesn't blame him), Haruka awkwardly smiles at Takane, "And what did you get?"

"Oh, just a beer," she absently gestures with the hand that was holding the can as she spoke. "Why, wanna try it?"

"Okay."

Blinking back at him, Takane's smirk melts off her face to show a nonplussed expression, "Oh. I was just kidding. Really?"

"Y – yup, really!"

"Hm," Takane hums, apparently deciding to test the waters, and holds up the drink for Haruka. "Well, I already paid, so you can have mine."

Ah, seriously. Haruka's so hopeless. As he watches the boy grab the can with unsure hands, Shintaro thinks it's ridiculous how hard he's trying. He even struggles and winces when he opens the can.

_Haruka. Buddy, dude, bro. You are not convincing at all._

Even so, he doesn't say anything. As Takane giggled and started to say this wasn't necessary, he didn't have to actually go through with it, while Haruka seemed to force himself to take a sip, Shintaro hears the convenience store's door open.

His eyes travel to it, mostly because right now anything seemed more interesting that the couple of dorks he calls his friends, but he honestly wasn't expecting to get caught up in whoever just entered. It's a girl, and he feels his heart drop to his stomach.

Because she's cute.

The floor is probably sticky, Shintaro thinks, because of the sound her black boots make against it when she walks. She's short, maybe slightly taller than Takane though, and the highlights of red in her brown hair shined under the bright lights of the store.

"–Right, Shintaro?"

"Huh– what, what?" snapping out of it, he turns back to Haruka and Takane. With the beer back in her hand, Takane raises an eyebrow at him,

"Tell this dumbass there's nothing wrong with apple juice."

Boggled, Shintaro only blinks for a moment, trying to make sense of the words as he struggled to find himself back on the conversation. Seriously, what in the hell is this?

He doesn't remember feeling this stupid since...

_Highschool?_

Desperately shaking that thought away, Shintaro almost feels himself shiver. He's not thinking about that. He's not.

Instead, he only clears his throat, and puts effort in _not_ letting his eyes wander to the side, where he can hear the customer that just came in pressing the buttons of the coffee machine. Oh, god. This is so lame.

In the end, his voice doesn't sound convincing at all. It was obvious he wasn't paying attention to his friends, "Sure, apple juice's cool."

Haruka and Takane share a strange look with each other. He can't exactly read what's going on in that look, but Shintaro's aware of how dumb they know he is. So basically, this was a big _oh, no._

Yes, they know him far too well to let this slide. Shintaro winces as he hears Takane ask, "Uh, you okay there?"

He hears himself breathe through his nose, and oh _god,_ is he seriously blushing? Is this what blushing feels like? How long has it been since he last blushed over something like this? Why the fuck _is_ he blushing?!

Shintaro shakes his head before remembering what the question was, and immediately changes the pace to start nodding instead, "I'm fine."

"Are you?"

Takane was smirking. Second big oh no. This wasn't good at all; if there's something Shintaro fears as much as he hates, it's this face Takane makes, because it means she's about to absolutely wreck his life.

Especially since she was looking past Shintaro. She was looking at the girl that caught his attention. Why, why, why. God, what has he done to deserve this?

Okay, yeah, he's been a pretty big jerk for most of his life but seriously? Is he still paying back for that?

_Keep it cool,_ he recites in his head, trying to do as he told himself. Didn't work, he was basically shaking. _Deny everything and do whatever you can to make these two agree to leave already._

Hey, maybe they won't even point it out. It was a rather awkward thing, after all.

"I think he was looking at that girl over there," Haruka drops, and Shintaro feels his world stop. God fucking dammit.

"I was _not,_" he rushes to answer. "Can we go now? We have everything. Let's go."

Alas, Takane found that desperation of his incredibly amusing, "Damn, what's the rush?"

"Yeah!" Haruka claps his hands together, the bag with the snacks hanging from his arm moving along with him. "Are you looking at her because you think she's cute?"

He was already shaking his head before Haruka finished the question, "No!"

"You should talk to her."

If Shintaro didn't already feel like the situation and all of his friends' words were stabbing him, this was it. That friendly offer alone felt like it had pushed him to the ground and started to straight up beat the shit out of him.

"Fucking excuse me. Why would you want me to kill myself on the spot like that, senpai?"

"You're so dramatic, Shintaro-kun."

"Honestly," rolling her eyes, Takane still shakes her head. "Maybe you should aim a lil lower though. She might be a bit... too out of your league."

He wasn't offended with that because he knew; seriously, that girl has piercings. But the words did seem to cause a violent effect on Haruka, just like the "go talk to her" did to Shintaro himself.

Boy, sometimes Takane can be even more dense than Haruka. Her boyfriend is out there trying so hard and she's completely oblivious; if Haruka had gathered any sort of confidence already (Shintaro didn't think he did), it was lost in that exact moment.

"How long has it been since you've even talked to a girl who isn't your mom or me?"

"You're a girl?"

"You've pointed out my bra's showing like five times already and now you're acting smart?"

"Shut up."

"Okay, you know what?" Takane straightens up, and grabs his shoulders to be face to face with him. Her tone seemed of encouragement, "This was probably the wrong night to choose to wear a Miku Hatsune shirt, but you're actually pretty good looking. You should do as Haruka says and talk to her."

Blushing because of literally everything that was happening, Shintaro shakes his head in desperation, yelling in a whisper, "No way! You guys made this up, when did I say I liked her or something!? Do you really want me to die that much?!"

"Bro, it doesn't have to be anything. I'm not saying you should ask her out or something! Just try to get out of your comfort zone!"

"I do not want to leave my comfort zone. It's comfortable."

"Exactly!" Takane groans. "Didn't you tag along tonight because you needed to let go for a bit? This is it, dumbass!"

Shintaro looks daggers at Haruka. This is his fault, so now he needs to fix it. Control his fucking girlfriend because she is very confused and _this isn't_ the point of tonight. He's only here because he's a good friend. So he better say something.

And Haruka absolutely understood what Shintaro was trying to tell him. So he takes in a deep breath, and Shintaro doesn't have the time to wonder why he looks so apologetic, "Yes, Shintaro-kun. Give it a chance."

_You TRAITOR._

Asshole. What an asshole. He's with Takane on this one, it's not fair! He's with Takane on _every_ one, after all. Ugh!

"No way."

"C'mon, Shintaro. Don't feel scared."

"Yes! Just try!"

"I mean it's the first time I've seen you take interest in something that isn't 2D or pornographic. There's still human in you! This is an event that will go in history. Go. Talk. To her."

Before Shintaro can properly tell Takane off, he's forcibly turned around and pushed forward. Oh, this is not good. This is very not good.

She had pushed him. Takane had pushed him into the girl's direction and now he was walking in that direction because he stumbled like an idiot and that seemed like the most logical thing to do; walk. He hates everything and everyone right now; Haruka, Takane, random girl, and all of his brain cells, if he even had any left.

He felt Haruka and Takane's eyes glued on his back and this is horrible. Even so, it felt like his body was moving on his own, because he's not turning back. Why isn't he turning back?

This isn't how tonight was supposed to go at all. He wanted to stay back at his friends' house and stay up all night trying to make a song or something. And after they made these plans, it'd just be put up with Haruka and Takane being ridiculous about the whole "being out of each other's league" stuff. Not this. He was never supposed to be the protagonist of this.

Once he finds himself standing right next to her, Shintaro feels like he could just get in fetal position on the floor and simply cry until everyone was gone and the staff kicked him out.

He steals a glance of her out of the corner of his eye. _Please, random girl. Do me a favour and take out a gun and shoot me in the face._

But all he gets is a side look from her, and he feels like he's melting. This is awful and it's bringing back too many memories he does _not_ want to bring back. And she smiles.

Since he was way focused in probably staring _way_ too much, his hand manages to knock over the entire stack of cups when he tried to absently reach out for one. His arms instantly fly everywhere in his attempt of catching them in the air, obviously failing miserably, but Shintaro thinks he must've looked pathetic, not that it was a surprise.

He did not catch a single one. The girl had already walked away, though. He wasn't sure if that was good (because she didn't see him) or bad (because what if she did see him and she just went "nope" and fled?). Either way, Shintaro is very embarrassed right now.

Only god knows how he dared to actually turn around to face his audience. Haruka and Takane both winced with smiles.

Haruka sent him poor thumbs up. Takane mouthed "yikes."  


(...)  


"Well, you sure showed those cups who's boss."

"Shut up, Takane. I want everyone quiet for the rest of the night. Otherwise I _will_ jump out of the car."

"Okay, Shintaro-kun, whatever you say. But put your seatbelt on."

Even though he was very annoyed with Haruka right now, Shintaro does as told and fastens the seatbelt. He hears Takane do the same in the passenger seat; Shintaro himself was in the backseat, like the grown up adult he is.

"Welp, since dear Haruka's driving, seems like we'll be inside the car for a while," Takane points out, her hands reaching out to the radio. Shintaro laughs; honestly, he was so done already, and the car is just starting to _head_ to the show.

Loud rock music starts ringing in the car soon after, just as Haruka defensively asks, "Wh – what's that supposed to mean?"

Both Takane and Shintaro answer at the same time, "You're a slow driver."

Haruka only groans dejectedly. This time he didn't even try to discuss it. He probably knew they were right; even so, he doesn't accelerate. Maybe he even felt as done as Shintaro himself... maybe they should've stayed like Takane insisted.

Because it's not even close to midnight and Shintaro was feeling so emotionally tired. Feeling this way reminded him too much of the past, too much of_ her,_ and that's not what he needs right now or ever. This was such a mistake; it didn't even _help_ Haruka. If anything, Takane thinks of him as more of a grandpa than before.

Fortunately, somebody decides to speak up.

"So," Haruka started, "Am I gonna have to say it?"

"...Say what?"

"She kinda looked like Ayano-chan. I – I'm sure _we all_ noticed."

Take the "fortunately" back. Shintaro would've preferred the car staying quiet.

"Oh," Takane, confirming to be oblivious to literally everything that was happening, stops drumming the car's glove box at the music's rhythm to take in the information. "Oh... Ooooh... So that's why you got frozen like that?"

Takane turns around to look at him in the back, and Shintaro can only sink further in the seat. If he was lucky enough maybe he'll wake up from this nightmare, "No. No I didn't. I didn't even think anything of her. You guys made up I was checking her out or something!"

"Oh my god, I totally see it now," ignoring him, Takane turns forward again. She lets out a laugh, "Oh my god! Yes! She was like a punk rock version of Ayano-chan. Wild."

"Not every brown haired girl has to look like her, guys!"

"No, it wasn't only the brown hair, dude. I can't unsee," she laughs again. "Man, I really felt like she was familiar too!"

"Yeah, me too! All the red probably had something to do with it, though..." Haruka joins in and this is horrible. "I noticed pretty quickly it was Ayano-chan who I had in mind, but we had already convinced Shintaro-kun to go over there to stop it in time..."

"_Convinced me to go over there?_ You literally pushed me her way!"

"And then you played along! You could've turned back, you know," Takane insists, but Shintaro isn't having it anymore,

"It was awful and I hate you guys."

"Aw, I think it would've gone well. She smiled at you. She seemed nice."

"Shut up, senpai."

"Yeah, man. You look like the kind of guy who cries himself to sleep and also _doesn't _sleep, but I mean she had a nose piercing so that's probably her type."

"You shut up too, Takane."

"We're just saying maybe she liked you too–"

"Why would anyone ever like me?"

Since they're in the front seats, he can't really see their expressions, but both Haruka and Takane immediately shut up. It kind of slipped him to say that, but if it worked better than the good old "shut up", then maybe he should share more of the self-deprecating thoughts out loud.

...He would if it didn't leave him feeling so embarrassed, though.

Shintaro sighs, pressing his head against the window, "Forget it."

Despite Shintaro himself had asked them to be quiet in the rest of the way, the atmosphere inside the car started to feel thick and uncomfortable. The silence weighed heavily on him, maybe because _silence_ meant being alone with his thoughts, and jeez, no one wants that. Especially not Shintaro.

Only the rock music from the radio could be heard, and even that was on a low volume. And it was... awkward. This felt really awkward.

Shintaro sighs, trying to entertain himself looking out the window, but the road was empty for the most part. Perhaps that was good, because seriously, this car was moving so slow he was sure other peope would've started to honk at them to go faster. Why couldn't Takane drive instead of Haruka?

He's suddenly dazzled by a vehicle's lights passing right next to them. It takes him a second, but after lazily rubbing his eyes from the unexpected light, he can make out it's a motorcycle. With... the girl from the store riding it.

Oh, man. He is not getting a break tonight.

Immediately looking away, Shintaro tries to see if Haruka and Takane had noticed. He sees from the mirror Haruka's paying attention to the road, and Takane seemed too busy bouncing at the pace of the music. Okay. Good.

Now all he has to do is pretend he didn't see her, either. Shouldn't be so difficult, right?

Pay attention to anything, really. As long as he doesn't have to stare at someone who looks so much like her. But then he sees the way Takane softly places her hand on top of Haruka's at the front, and Shintaro feels everything stop again.

Ayano was a really pretty girl.

He'd mostly avoid looking at her, actually. She made an unfamiliar feeling grow inside of him, and Shintaro has never been one for complicated things. He doesn't do that.

If it seemed foreign, he'd ignore it. He wasn't in for that. He just went to school because it's what he had to do. Staring at his pretty classmate wasn't something he had to do, so he didn't do it. But he regrets it so much now.

To know it'd end like this, where he can only ever see her in his mind, he would've stared at her for the entire time he wouldn't be able to see her in the future. Because he can't; she's gone.

There are times in which her face seems fuzzy and distant in his memory. He freaks out, thinking he may be forgetting her, but it's fresh once he looks at a picture again. However, just as he did back then, he spends so much time trying to ignore the way Ayano makes him feel that sometimes, he forgets he's capable of feeling something like that in the first place.

Because she would look back at him, and she would smile, and Shintaro would feel... not that sad. Since she was there, smiling at him, for him. Because of him.

Why did he never smile back?

Ayano had long eyelashes, Shintaro recalls, as he turns his head back in the direction of the girl. Ayano closed her eyes when she smiled really big; which then again, was all the time. When she was embarrassed, she'd hide with her scarf the pout she made with her mouth. The scarf that also trapped her hair inside it in a way that made it look kind of messy.

Ayano had a button nose; round and tiny, and it immediately became pink when she was even the slightest cold. She'd scrunch it up slightly when she struggled doing a math problem, and when she did, Shintaro found himself staring. It made him think she was cute. It made his heart beat faster. It made him feel full.

The girl in the motorbike looks back at him, but Shintaro doesn't feel nervous anymore. Just empty; because she looked like Ayano but she wasn't Ayano. That girl didn't deserve to be stared at only because she reminds him of a deceased person. It didn't seem really fair.

Especially since said girl smiles again, and even waves at him. God, she seems like a dork too; look at the road, please. It makes Shintaro giggle, and for a second, he doesn't think of Ayano at all.

He just waves back, but that's it. Shintaro's done for tonight. When they get to the party, he'll probably just stay in the car until Haruka and Takane come back. Yeah. That sounds like a plan.

They stop in a light, but the girl advances before it changed to red.

"And there she goes."

Takane's voice makes Shintaro jump in surprise, "Wh – what!? You saw that!?"

"Yup. It was nice," Haruka looks at him through the mirror, but Shintaro only groans. "Don't be like that! What if she goes to the same show as us?"

That's not why he was groaning, really. Takane hums awkwardly, shaking her head, "Naah, a girl like that probably knows about a milion shows going on tonight."

"That's a shame..." Haruka carried on. "Are you disappointed, Shintaro-kun?"

"N – no!" Shintaro tries to sound convincing, but then again, that's never been a talent of his. When Haruka and Takane only hum knowingly, he starts stammering. "Seriously, you guys! Whatever! So I think she's cute, sue me! Can we let it go?! It's not that big of a deal!"

That's one of the worst things he could've said; both his friends turn to look at him practically shining.

"Shintaro-kun, you're so honest! I'm so proud!"

"Yeah, man! We can't let it go! It's almost like you're becoming human! Way to go!"

"Stop acting like you're my parents or something, ugh!"

Absolutely ignoring (for the best, really) his creepy comment, both turn to the front again. Haruka looked worriedly at the red light, "It's such a shame she went away."

"Wh – whatever," Shintaro forces himself to roll his eyes. "It's no big deal."

"Would you like to go after her?"

"What?"

Haruka turns around again, sounding dead serious, "Would you?"

"Uh..." now what did _that_ mean? Shintaro shifts awkwardly in the backseat, trying to get himself to shake his head. But maybe he did want to; after all, for a moment there, he forgot about Ayano all together.

And he was sort of curious about what Haruka had in mind.

So raising an eyebrow, Shintaro limits himself with shrugging. Whatever that means, it seems to be enough for Haruka, because he turns his attention to the road again. He hears him take a deep breath, before saying, "O – okay then."

Again, _whatever that means,_ Shintaro wasn't expecting the car to start moving again. He glances at the light before they entirely pass it by; he immediately starts to panic, "Haruka, what the fuck?! The light was red!"

"Y – yeah, I know–"

Haruka's very useless answer gets cut off by Takane. She makes a confused noise that ends up turning into laughter, "OH MY GOD! WAY TO GO, BABE!"

"Takane, don't encourage this! What the fuck is wrong with you two!?" Shintaro clings to the backseat in utter shock, grabbing on his seatbelt for dear life. The car wasn't going _fast,_ but it was faster than how Haruka usually drove.

In fact, the speed increased after a turn in a corner; he can see the girl's motorbike in the distance now.

"Ah, look, there she is~"

"HOW DO YOU SOUND SO CALM, HARUKA! So what if she's there!? What's your plan!?"

"Oh, uh. I don't really have one."

"WHAT!?" with that answer, Shintaro feels his heart stop. Takane's eager laughter didn't make this easier; it probably only encouraged Haruka. "Then why did you–!?"

Shintaro can't finish his sentence, immediately distracted by a loud siren and the blue and red lights flashing inside the car now. Whatever excitement Takane was going through at the moment is quickly drowned by a groan of hers, "Oh, shit–"

"Ah."

"AH? THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF, HARUKA? _AH?!_" Shintaro, however, was not taking this very well. The car was still moving, too, and that only infuriated (scared) him more. He grabs the front seats to prompt himself forward, trying to look at Haruka, "Why the hell aren't you pulling over!?"

"Ah, well, I have to show them my license if I do, right?" Haruka muses, voice calmer than his panicked face. Shintaro nods,

"Yeah, no shit–"

"Well, I happen to... not have one."

Haruka's brain clearly had stopped functioning, Shintaro decides. This really couldn't be happening.

Takane breathes out, "Yikes... that's right..."

"You drive all the time, what do you mean you don't have a license!?"

Nervously, Haruka steals a glance of both of them before his jittery voice started to explain, "Well I... I'm underage."

"WHAT!? NO, YOU'RE NOT!"

"I – I know I'm not, but since I was, uh, _gone,_ legally speaking I'm two years younger than I actually am, and there's a lot of paperwork that comes with fixing that, and they never get anything done, it's really frustrating–"

"WHATEVER! The fuck do we do now if you don't have a license!? Takane, flash them or something!"

"Fucking excuse me._ You _flash them!"

"You're the one with the boobs!"

"I'm going crawl back there and snap your neck in half."

"Okay, no more fighting, no one is flashing anyone nor breaking any necks–" Haruka intervenes, but Shintaro feels himself spit venom at him when he speaks,

"Why didn't you consider the fact you don't have a license before running a red light, smartass?" he holds tightly on the seat, his seatbelt uncomfortably digging on his chest as he leaned towards his friends. "What are we gonna do!?"

Maybe going over his options, Haruka turns to look at both of them. He was being very uncharacteristic; accelerating, running a red light, not looking at the road as he continued to drive. And Shintaro didn't like it one bit.

Specifically, now Haruka stared at Takane. Takane only smiled, which convinces Shintaro that the one beer she had was messing with her. She's acting like it's genuinely fun that they got a police car chasing after them. She looked back at Haruka with a demeanor that clearly said she was going to support any stupid decision he made, because in all honesty, Shintaro couldn't think of a solution to this that didn't involve all three of them in jail.

But then Haruka furrows his brows, as if having made up his mind, and looks away from her again.

_Okay,_ Shintaro breathes for a second, preparing himself for the next event. _He's gonna pull over, and we're all going to get arrested–_

Scratch that.

Shintaro is slammed against the backseat again after Haruka, apparently, had accelerated even more. And oh, boy. He was sure they were over the speed limit now.

They dash past the girl's motorcycle, and the lights of the police car were still bursting through the windows. He even sees Takane hold on the sides of her seat, and before Shintaro could say anything, the once low rock music starts blasting from the speakers.

Shintaro isn't sure which one of them had turned the volume up, but he wants to kill them.

Takane, not helping at all, pumps her fists in the air, "Oh my god! Haruka, you're a total badass!"

Being the only sensitive person in the ride right now, Shintaro can only eloquently say, "WHAT IN THE FUUUUCK–"

The wheels actually screech when the car swerves in a sudden turn of a corner, and Shintaro genuinely feels his soul leaving his body right now. Tightly shutting his eyes, he covers his face with his hands to avoid... at this point, honestly? Vomiting. To avoid vomiting.

Because really, he felt like puking. Especially when he feels the car swinging an entire circle, and then... and then they were still.

Once he hears the police siren pass by and start to fade away, Shintaro uncovers his eyes. They're behind a big sign, off the road. Oh, god.

"A – are they gone?"

"I think so," Haruka's the one to answer, his voice not as bubbly and unsure as before. The three of them let out a sigh of relief in unison. He turns to his passengers with a nervous frown, "...That was terrifying."

Shintaro groaned. No shit, Sherlock. Takane just laughed.

As Shintaro got ready to simply melt into the backseat and be done with this night already, the sound of the car taking a little too long to start flusters him out of it. He hears Haruka struggling, and finally letting out a sigh of defeat.

Takane speaks up, "Are we–"

"We're out of gas," Haruka interrupts her and answers her question before she can even ask it. Shintaro groans again, but Takane quickly pulls her phone out, most likely to go over their options or something.

She sighed through her nose, "...Nearest gas station is twenty miles away."

Shintaro facepalms.

The three of them get out of the car rather reluctantly, but Shintaro didn't care about the other two. He was crushingly tired already. He's been not only forced out of the house, but also forced out of his comfort zone. He couldn't be more done with them, especially Haruka.

_The fucking traitor,_ Shintaro thinks, as he angrily walked forward. God, they were in the middle of nowhere. Really, it wasn't usual for Shintaro to be annoyed with Haruka of all people, but this entire thing wouldn't have happened if he hadn't been trying to impress a girl. Which is fine, sure, Shintaro can support that but if the girl is _already head over heels for him,_ then what is the fucking point?

None! There _was_ no point! This entire night is just a big pointless event, and Shintaro wants to come back home _so_ bad! And by home he doesn't even mean Haruka and Takane's place where he'd freeload. No. Home, home. Away from them. They're the last people he wants to see right now.

"...I'm sorry," Haruka's soft voice, however, pinches Shintaro's bubble of angry thoughts. He ignores it, but once he realizes he wasn't hearing any other steps but his own, he stops himself. He looks back, and sees both Haruka and Takane had stopped walking.

"What?" Takane chuckles, trying to keep a light mood. She offered a comforting smile, but Haruka just looked away. "What are you sorry for?"

"I was just... so ready!"

And with no other word, Haruka plops down onto the grass. He hugged his knees against his chest, groaning pathetically to himself. Despite how angry Shintaro had felt two seconds ago, it was all gone from just seeing him this way. Haruka is always such a good friend to him; the things he did tonight were out of his own desperation for Takane's attention and his own desire of helping Shintaro be more sociable. He was never badly intentioned, really.

Shintaro sighs to himself, as Takane kneeled down on the grass too, in front of Haruka. Before she could say something though, Haruka's head pokes up from in between his arms,

"Remember what you told Shintaro-kun earlier?" he asks her, gloomily. "About how that girl was out of his league?"

As Shintaro crossed his arms in embarrassment, Takane nods, "Yeah?"

"Well," he pauses for a second, like he was trying to choose the right words. He brings a hand down to the ground, and fidgets with the grass, "To me, you're kind of like that."

From this angle, Shintaro could only see the back of her head, so he couldn't exactly see how Takane reacts upon finally hearing these words. He guesses she's probably not that surprised, though.

"_Excuse_ me?" Takane goes, sounding absolutely shocked. And once he hears that, Shintaro realizes he should _probably_ not be listening to this private conversation. But it wasn't like there was anywhere to go, and to be completely honest, after everything these two had done to him tonight, he was going to allow himself to be nosy.

"I was _so_ gonna drink that awful beer, and keep my shirt with a few buttons undone, I was gonna listen to that loud music that isn't even my _taste–_" red faced, Haruka starts rambling as he properly finishes buttoning up his shirt. He huffs, now refusing to make eye contact with her. "I just... wanted to try to be at your level, Takane, because... look at yourself! You have always been so cool! I wanted you to think I deserved to be next to someone as cool as you and that I'm not just... a nerd, like you always say. But, _nooo!_ Instead, all I did was drive to loud music, chase a mysteryous woman into the night to force Shintaro-kun to do something he _didn't even want to do,_ and break the law."

He buries his face in his arms again, and his next words come out in a high voice, as if he was about to start crying,

"I should've stayed at home with the crossword," he says. "I've lost my edge."

As silence descended onto them, all Shintaro could hear was the sound of a cricket chirping and soft, rock music playing somewhere nearby. However, Takane's obviously fast to break the silence. Surprisingly, her tone is far away from being soft or comforting.

"You're wrong," she says. Her voice is sharp and firm, but not so much that she sounds angry. She sounded more offended than anything, as if Haruka's words had personally attacked her and she hadn't expected it. "Listen, I don't know what on Earth has made you think I don't think you're cool, but you're _dead wrong."_

"H – huh?"

"Haruka, I don't want you to feel like you have to do something to feel like you deserve to be with me or– or be at my level or _whatever._ That's not how it works," Takane scoops closer to him, still as determined. "You're already perfect, and one movie night with you is a hundred times better than a hundred of these whacky house parties."

Nonplussed, Haruka finally looks up at her, revealing his teary eyes. He wiped his face with his sleeve, watching her expectantly, "Really?"

"_Yes,_ really," Takane laughs. "I think you're cool just the way you are, as dorky and nerdy as that is! I – I _love you_ just the way you are!"

As Haruka immediately lunges at her to trap her in a hug, Shintaro realizes that they've seemingly forgotten he's still here, and also that he feels the most out of place he's felt in a long, long time. And that says a lot.

Sighing, and trying to ignore the kissing noises, he looks up at the starry sky. The night wasn't terribly hot, but it wasn't chilly either.

Shintaro allows himself to imagine what Ayano would say in this situation. What her role would be tonight.

But that would've been way different, isn't it? For starters, Ayano would've made Haruka spill out his concerns earlier than this. He's sure of that. And really, Shintaro's interest wouldn't have been caught on that rocker girl, either. He would've been way too occupied watching Ayano's pretty face, wondering to himself just what had he done to deserve another chance to see her.

That's not right, though. He never got said chance, and he never will. All he gets to do is watch Haruka and Takane make the most of their own chance. The one they deserve, unlike him.

_But..._ he looks back down, shifting his attention to Haruka and Takane smooching on the grass. _I wonder if I'll ever be deserving of something like that._

_Not a second chance. Just **a** chance._

_If I'll ever get the chance to like someone that way._

_If I'll ever get the chance to... have someone like me that way._

He shakes his head, trying to get rid of all his thoughts. Deciding he should intervene before these two start getting their clothes off, Shintaro speaks up, "I, um. Hear music."

They finally unstick from one another. Takane crawls back up in about one second, but it takes Haruka longer as he tried to put himself together.

Takane looks around, "I know that song."

And with no further comment, she starts walking forward. Haruka and Shintaro rush after her once they realize she wasn't going to wait for them.

Surely enough, no more than a mile away, there was the infamous show Takane was so excited about. And excited she was; as soon as she moved the bushes and saw the stage set up in the backyard of a house, she bolted in.

As the band played, she had people approach her, and Shintaro heard things like, "Ene, what took you so long!" and "Ene, we were wondering when you'd get here!" so it's now apparent to him Takane's social life goes beyond the Dan.

Well, he guesses it makes sense. She is, conventionally speaking, _cool._

If they hadn't had a heart-to-heart five minutes ago, Shintaro is sure Haruka would be sobbing on the floor right about now, but he wasn't. He only watched Takane proudly, like he was expecting someone to approach him so he could yell in their faces that the cute girl over there is his girlfriend. Especially since Shintaro was listening to Takane talk to her friends about the reason she was late and how her hardcore boyfriend had a speed car chase with the police.

Honestly, they were such nerds.

But even so, this wasn't so bad. These people seemed pretty normal, and they were only chatting and dancing, so it wasn't as chaotic as the term "house party" had made it sound like. Huh.

However, as Shintaro was starting to relax, Haruka says, "I owe you an apology."

"Huh?" he goes, before remembering he was supposed to be mad at him. "Ah, um... don't worry about it, man. You were just worried about Takane and stuff."

"Still, that is no excuse," he shook his head. "I was very selfish and– Oh my god the girl is here."

"What."

"The _girl,"_ Haruka is looking at some lost point behind Shintaro, but he quickly turns him around to not so subtly show him _what_ he was looking at. "She's_ here._"

Before Shintaro could even try stuttering something out, Takane was going back to them, walking in excited skips. She yelled in a whisper, "Yo! Have you seen her!?"

Shintaro sees Haruka nod out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn't bring himself to get his eyes off the brunette, completely frozen. She's typing something in her phone, standing by herself. He gulped, not listening to a word Takane was saying.

"I just found out I actually know some people who know her! I can tell them to put out a good word for you and–"

"I'm gonna go talk to her."

"Yeah, so– WAIT WHAT."

Shintaro intended to walk forward, but Takane got in his way. She places her hands on his chest, as if to make him step back, but he doesn't. She smiles nervously, "L – look, Shintaro, you don't have to do this if you don't wanna! I know we were really pushy and stuff so..."

Takane's voice was filled with genuine worry, and lacked the usual irony and sarcasm she used to direct herself to Shintaro. He looks at her, and then at Haruka, who seemed to be mirroring Takane's concerned face.

He shoots her a thankful smile, "I'll be right back."

As he gently nudges past her, Takane panickedly yells after him, "WA – WAIT, YOU COULD START SMALLER! TALK TO A NERD!"

"Takane!" Haruka's nagging voice is the last thing Shintaro allows himself to pay attention to as he gets to the girl.

"Oh _no,_ he's starting with a handshake?" Takane feels herself cringe. She steals a glance of Haruka, and he's grimacing, most likely feeling sorry for Shintaro as well, but it's gone when he sees how the girl actually shakes Shintaro's hand back. "...She went for it! Oh my god, I can't believe this."

"She's smiling!" Haruka celebrates, but feels concern take over him again once the girl starts laughing. " Oh no, do you think she's laughing _at_ him or _with_ him?"

"He's smiling too, so it's hard to tell," Takane answers. "God, what is he even saying?!"

"Shh, he's coming back!"

They both rush to Shintaro, almost like they're about to ambush him. He even takes a step back, but before he can cuss out at them, Takane asks, "S – so, how'd it go!?"

"Well, she's gay and asked me what your deal is, Takane."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Anyway, after I said you're basically married, we started to talk about other things, and," triumphantly, Shintaro holds up a tiny piece of paper, and Haruka and Takane stare at it dumbfounded when they realize what it is. "Guess who liked my Miku Hatsune shirt, and is actually a big fan of amateur musicians?"

"Oh my god?" Takane gasped. "Wait, you got her number? You scored yourself a weeb friend?!"

"Y – yeah, I guess!" Shintaro rubs the back of his neck, bashful. "Sh – she even said she wanted to check out my works!"

"Awww!" Haruka starts clapping. "This is so nice! Shintaro-kun made a friend! I'm so proud!"

Shintaro was about to say it wasn't that much of a big deal, but Takane cheerfully joins in before he could say anything, "Me too, holy shit! Who would've thought!"

"Shintaro-kun, who was so anxious later!"

"Shintaro, who is so anxious _always!"_

"Okay, guys, that's enough–"

Of course, that didn't stop Haruka and Takane from acting like they're proud parents sending their child to college. But Shintaro decides it's not that bad.

**Author's Note:**

> Featuring: random rocker Ayano version :) I'd get a crush on her too, Shintaro.


End file.
